One of the vivid holiday memories I have form my childhood is the many shopping trips my sister and I took with my grandmother (my dad’s mom) when we were younger. She would come to our house and walk us to the bus stop, where we would wait patiently (well not really) for the city bus to pick us up. The bus would head towards Asbury Park, where we would walk and shop with MomMom for most of the day.
When we were younger (oh so long ago) Asbury Park was a thriving and wonderful place to shop (thankfully that, too, is making a comeback!). As little girls, we would have been given a small amount of money to buy for everyone, and the best place to do that was at HL Greens or JJ Newberry’s, two great five and dime places. And, JJ Newberry’s had an awesome food counter where we would end our lunch with an ice cream sundae! It could not have been any better!
As we strolled throughout Asbury, we would be awestruck by all holiday decorations, the lights, the sounds (the bell ringers), and smells of Christmas (yes theses were the days of roasted chestnuts). One of the things I remember fondly was my MomMom’s lectures on giving to those who were unfortunate. She would have us each place one precious coin in the red kettle of the Salvation Army. Parting with the coins was hard as little kids, but we did it, and eventually grew old enough to understand the value of parting with them.
So today, I cannot pass a red kettle without thinking about MomMom or giving when I can to those who need it more. Thank you MomMom for instilling those precious values in each of us.
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